Common Sandpiper

Name: Common Sandpiper

Scientific name: Actitis hypoleucus

Category: Birds

Nature Stars: 50

What are nature stars?

About: A smallish sandpiper, about 20cm long. Greeny brown above, with a bright white belly. Common Sandpipers have a shortish, straight bill which is greyish, with greeny legs. Common Sandpipers feed around the edge of small water bodies and are best recognised

How to identify: Sandpipers can be a difficult group of birds to get to grips with. When they fly, Common Sandpipers have a brown rump, but strong white wing bars. They are most similar to Wood Sandpiper and Green Sandpiper, but are smaller and shorter legged than both, w

Where: Nests around the edge of lakes and large rivers in the uplands. A common bird on migration at many inland wetlands throughout the country.

Natural Superpowers

• Predator: 40
• Agility: 60
• Rarity: 50
• Cute factor: 40
• Traveller: 80

Fantastic fact: The closest relative of the Common Sandpiper is an american species, the Spotted Sandpiper which looks virtually identical, except it has thrush-like black spots on the belly during the summer.

Photograph credit: Stefan Johansson / avesphoto.se